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EDUCATION. 




AN ADDRESS 



TO THE PATRONS AND STUDENTS 



OP THE 



iirgium dMIegiate Institute, 



y* At the close of the Scholastic year ending June 30th, 1857, 

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BTT UST. IB. "WEBSTER, 



PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE, 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 




■'■MuUq, rogare ; rogata tenere ; retenta docere ; 
Hac tria dicipulum faciunt superare 'magi$trum. ,, 



PORTSMOUTH, VA. 

PRINTED AT THE DAILY TRANSCRIPT OFFICE 

185 7. 



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EDUCATION 



AN ADDRESS 



TO THE PATRONS AND STUDENTS 



OF THE 



Virginia (Mkgiafe Institute, 



At the close of the Scholastic year ending June 30th, 1857, 



STST XsT. IB- "WEBSTER, 



President of the Institute, 






PUBLISHED BY REQUEST, 




* PORTSMOUTH, VA. 

PRINTED AT THE DAILY TRANSCRIPT OFFICE, 

185 7*. 



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ADDRESS. 



Esteemed Pupils and Fellow Citizens : — 

Assembled as you are, in attendance upon the closing ex- 
ercises of this session of the Collegiate Institute, and in view 
of the fact that very many of your number expect to engage 
in the arduous and responsible duties of teaching, I ask your 
attention to a few thoughts on the subject of the Education. 
I shall give my children a good education if it takes every cent 
I am worth, is a saying not unfamiliar to the ears of school- 
teachers. Benevolent parent — kind, devoted parent ! what 
a pity alas ! that money — potent money, which procures 
houses and lands ; friends and servants — power and place — 
food and raiment — witnesses and voters — which has even 
bought statesmen — judges — generals — kings and congress- 
men — by which 

Conscience, truth and honesty are made 
To rise and fall, like other wares of trade, 
cannot purchase a good education for his son, though it may 
procure fashionable accomplishments for his daughter. 

What is Education f The word is almost a synonym for 
the Saxon term bringing up. Education, says Webster, 
"comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline, 
which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct 
the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, 
and fit them for usefulness in their future stations." From 
its very nature, the business and responsibility of education 
devolves on parents to a much greater extent, than can be 
committed to teachers. 



The Metaphysician Kant, declares the object of education 
to be the development in each individual, of all the ' 'perfec- 
tion of which he is susceptible." Such development money 
can no more procure, than it can that physical growth where- 
by man can add a cubit to his stature. 

The immortal author of Paradise Lost, himself a teacher, 
calls that a complete and generous education, which fits a 
person ' 'to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously, all 
the offices both of public and private life — of peace and war." 
Such are the aims of education, yet what numbers pass 
through our academic and collegiate institutions totally un- 
fitted for the active and practical duties of life. The Pro- 
fessor of engineering in the United States Military Academy 
at West Point, informs us that military writers estimate that 
not more than one ball out of ten thousand attains its mark. 
We are surprised at such waste of amunition in war, but is 
there not a corresponding waste of labor and energy in the 
education of youth? Is one man in ten thousand or one 
woman in twenty thousand so educated as to attain the mark 
of the highest physical, mental and moral perfection of which 
he or she is susceptible ? 

One object of education is to fit men for usefulness in life, 
and success in business or professional pursuits, and hence 
the importance of learning in youth those things that will in 
the end be of practicable utility. It is not the matter taught, 
however, that contributes to the truly practical end, as 
much as the manner or method of teaching. 

Mental philosophy must constitute the basis of all valuable 
methods of mental development. Mind becomes aware of 
the existence and properties of matter, by means of the per- 
ceptive faculties. To facilitate the acquirement of knowl- 
edge then, as many objects as possible should be presented 
to the scholar's notice. Cabinets of minerals, fossils, shells, 
curiosities of nature and art, and apparatus to illustrate 
properties of matter otherwise hidden from his senses, should 
aid in storing the mind with truths for future use. Much 



of our knowledge is based on testimony but the more the 
pupil can get at first hands, the better. 

Yet this is not education. We do not endorse the sentiment 
of Mr. Gradgrind, "In this life we want nothing but Facts/' 
and yet we do want the facts, as material with which to build. 

Aside from perception, consciousness, original suggestion, 
abstraction and memory, we have — children have — another 
faculty called reason, by which we can employ what we 
already know, in the acquisition of other and more extended 
knowledge. It is in the development of this reason — the 
exercise in this mental gymnasium, that the teacher has an 
opportunity to manifest his skill, and prove his fitness for his 
vocation. An illustrative example of what I would call 
the true method of teaching, is found in the writings of 
Plato, as quoted by Dr. Whewcll, where he shows Socrates 1 
mode of eliciting latent knowledge. 



EXTRACT FROM THE "MENO" OF PLATO. 

S. Tell me, boy, do you know that this figure is a square 7 — B. 
Yes, 1 know. 

S. Because al! these four lines are equal ? (its sides.)— B. Yes. 

S. And also these other two lines are equal, which are drawn 
down the middle? (the diagonals.) — B. Yes. 

S. May there be a square greater or less than this? — B. Yes. 

S. May there be a square twice as great as this? — B. Yes. 

S. How long must one side be, that the square may be twice as 
great? — B. Twice as long as the side of the first square. 

You see, Socrates says, I tell nothing. I only ask him questions. 
And now he thinks he has answered right. But 1 must revive his 
recollection, that he may see his error.— So you say that the square 
on a double line will be double of the first 
square? You know I mean a square, 
not a figure that is long one way and 
narrow the other ; but as bioad as it is 
long, like this square, only twice as 
large. Now let us fit to one end of the 
first square, a second square which is 

equal to it. And let us fit two other squares of the same size to the 
sides of these two squares. Then we have a new square, have we 
not?— B. Yes. 



□ 



m 



6 

S. And how many times is it greater than the first square? — B. 
Four times greater. 

S. Well : but how long must the line be that the square upon it 
may be twice as great as the first square? — B. I do not know. 

Now, says Socrates, mark, that out of this not knowing, he will 
come to know, by seeing with me, just as he comes to know when 
I question him without my telling him anything. You will see that 
I do not give him my opinion, I only get at his. — If we draw a line 
across this first square, from corner to corner, (the diagonal,) it cuts 
it into two equal parts, does it not? — B. Yes. 

5. And if in this square, which is made up of the four squares, we 
draw the four diagonals, so as to cut off the four outside corners, 
each of these diagonals will cut one of the squares into two halves ? — 
B. Yes. 

S. And these four diagonals will be equal, and will make a new 
square ? — B. Yes. 

S. And this square is made up of the four inside halves of the 
four squares, is it not? — B. It is. 

S. But the first square is made up of two such halves, is it not? — 
B. Yes. 

S. And how much is four times greater than twice? — J5. The 
double of it. 

S. Then how many times is the new square greater than the first 
square? — B. It is the double of it. 

S. Then you have got a square which is the double of the original 
square ? — B. Yes. 

S. Namely, the square upon the diagonal of the original square ? 
— B. Yes. 

You see, Socrates says, he was really possessed of all hiy know- 
ledge before. Those who do not know, have still in their minds a 
latent knowledge. 

The boy's thoughts were so directed by the sage as to lead 
him even where nothing was told him, to know what was un- 
known before — and herein consists as I conceive the highest 
art of the teacher. Truly by taking thought we can add 
many cubits to our mental stature. 

The great advantage of Colburn's and other mental 
arithmetics is referrible to this principle so happily illustra- 
ted by Socrates. Give a child who can read, a good mental 
arithmetic, and you give him better facilities for acquiring 
a thorough, clear, and practical knowledge of mathematics, 



than he can obtain in some of our academies or even colleges. 

It was because the soul contains the principles of truth — 
that Socrates argued its immortality, for to him it was evident 
as it is to us that truth is eternal — or as Bryant has so beau- 
tifully written, 

The eternal years of God are hers. 

In teaching the natural sciences a somewhat different 
course must be pursued, yet here, to explain the unknown by 
its resemblance to the known is perhaps the most efficient 
method of instruction. 

Combination of analysis and synthesis, says Sir William 
Hamilton, is the most perfect condition of knowledge. 

It is a great error to suppose that person the best educated, 
who has acquired the greatest amount of information, and 
no examination short of the life and character of the scholar, 
is a fair test of his educational training. In the words of 
that eminent educator, David P. Page, "Eternity alone can 
display the immeasurable, inconceivable usefulness of one de- 
voted teacher." The good and learned Thomas Arnold of 
Rugby, used to say, "it is not knowledge but the means of 
gaining knowledge, that I have to teach." This eminent 
educational reformer sought to make his pupils good men as 
well as good scholars, and probably no teacher since the 
time of Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus, not even the renowned 
and benevolent Pestalozzi, has accomplished greater good, 
both in methods of instruction and school management, than 
the master of Rugby. 

The teacher is a pilot, employed by the parent or guardian 
to conduct his charge to some desired haven. If the em- 
ployer reposes not full confidence in the ability and fidelity 
of the guide, he should never seek his services. Like the 
pilot, the faithful teacher becomes more competent to dis- 
charge the duties of his calling, every time he has occasion 
to pass over his oft frequented course. Bishop Sanderson 
declared he had learned much from his masters — more from 
his equals, but most of all from his pupils. Crescit cundo 



8 

should be said of every teacher, for what he imparts, like 
the quality of mercy, "blesses him that gives and him that 
takes." 

Like the traveler in Lapland who almost frozen, found a 
man benumbed and expiring in the snow, forgetful of his 
own condition exerted himself actively in the resuscitation of 
his fellow man, and soon felt the reviving effects of the exer- 
cise in his own person, and literally warmed himself in the 
effort to warm a stranger, so the teacher is taught by teach- 
ing. Qui docet is discit is true of every true teacher. 

The Prussian proverb that whatever you would have appear 
in a nation's life should be put in its schools, is but another 
expression of the sentiment of Washington, in reference to 
the endowment of an institution in America, which should 
remove the necessity of sending young men abroad for a 
collegiate education. The pages of history present numer- 
ous instances of the force of early training, in shaping the 
destiny of individuals and nations. The historian of Germa- 
ny has to record that the bad education which Frederick the 
Great received, left many a noble germ within him neglec- 
ted, and had the royal pupil of Fenelon lived to be King of 
the French, their sad revolution might have been avoided. 
Charles B. Huntington, now in a New York penitentiary 
for forgery, used to forge his fathers name to excuses for 
truant absences, to read compositions not his own, and to 
deceive his teacher in every possible manner — another proof 
of Milton's line, that, 

Childhood shows the man, 
As morning shows the day. 

Examined by a microscope, the bud exhibits the future 
flower, and the lineaments of the butterfly are discovered in 
the caterpillar even before its metamorphosis into a chrysalis. 
It is asserted that an injury inflicted on the chrysalis, pro- 
duces a defect in the future fly. 

The most trifling incidents often lead to the greatest re- 
sults. The slightest movement or agitation of air among 



the Alpine peaks may disengage the fearful avalanche, and 

hardy huntsmen with iron pointed poles, pursue their game, 

••Mute, less the air convulsed by sound 
Rend from above, the frozen mass." 

' 'Arrows in the hand of a giant" require skilful manage- 
ment. The tender, pliant plant must be carefully guarded 
to form a symmetrical tree. 

"A pebble in a streamlet scant, 
Has turned the course of many a river : 
A dew drop on the infant plant, 
Has warped the giant oak forever." 

When Philip II, of Spain, was a youth, his distinguished 
father, the emperor Charles V, wrote to him, giving advice 
which some of the young sovereigns of our republic may hear 
with profit. Charles who understood the frank and open 
character of one of the instructors of Philip, wrote thus to 
his son. "If he deals plainly with you, it is for the love he 
bears you. If he were to flatter you and be only solicitous 
of ministering to your wishes he would be like all the rest of 
the world, and you would have no one near you to tell you 
the truth ; and a worse thing cannot happen to any man 
young or old, but most of all to the young, from their want 
of experience to discern truth from error." 

Theophrastus the Lesbian Sage, the divine speaker, the 
peripatetic teacher of two thousand scholars, was the pupil of 
the renowned Aristotle, who was himself the favorite scholar 
of the Athenian Plato, and was called by his distinguished 
master, the "mind of the school." Plato was a pupil of 
Socrates, who had Anaxagoras the friend of Pericles for his 
first preceptor in philosophy, and Anaximenes is said to have 
been the instructor of Anaxagoras. Anaximancler of Miletus, 
who first taught philosophy in a public school — first delinea- 
ted the divisions of land and water on an artificial globe — 
invented the sun dial — first made calculation of the size and 
distance of the heavenly bodies, and is even reported to have 
predicted an earthquake, was the teacher of Anaximenes ; 



10 

and Thales one of the seven wise men of Greece, who first 
predicted a solar eclipse, and divided the year into 365 days, 
was the master of Anaximander. Thus during nearly four 
hundred years, including the period of Grecian glory, we 
trace the royal succession of teachers and pupils, whose 
modest instructions have exerted a more potent influence for 
good, even to the present day, than the mightiest kings and 
conquerors have ever been able to accomplish. 

History seldom presents a great and good man who has not 
had a great and good teacher, or mother who has discharged 
the duties of instructor, although in some instances a Seneca 
has had a Nero for a pupil. 

The Virginia Collegiate Institute has its history, which 
will not fail to interest those who have chosen to prepare 
themselves for the duties and responsibilities of life, within 
its walls. 

In 1840, at the request of several gentlemen of Ports- 
mouth, among whom was the late Dr. William Collins, 
Capt. Alden Partridge, formerly at the head of the U. S. 
Military Academy at West Point, and then President of the 
Norwich University, established the Virginia Literary, 
Scientific and Military Academy, on the 7th of September 
of that year . Two distinguished graduates of the University, 
Johnson Shedd and Major Simeon Wheeler, where appointed 
instructors. In a few weeks the necessity of another teacher 
was felt, and Capt. Partridge requested your humble servant 
who now addresses you, and who was then a tutor in the 
University, to join the pioneers of the new enterprize. The 
school was conducted until the close of the year 1840, in the 
room under the Odd Fellows Lodge, the teachers having 
given bonds that no political doctrines should be taught. 

The Cadets were uniformed, and regularly drilled in 
military tactics, and although the "drum's discordant sound" 
disturbed the quiet of certain Van Winkles, who talked 
loudly of the presentment of the ' 'Soger boys" as a nuisance, 
the little band boldly advanced, in military order, and by 



their improved bearing, and gentlemanly deportment at all 
times and places, ''wrung a reluctant tribute" from those 
who had predicted the dire result of such an education. 

Thus was established, it is believed, the first private mili- 
tary school in Virginia, which with few intermissions has 
been continued to the present time, and now has a corps 
called the Institute Cadets, too well known to our citizens, to 
require a word of comment.* 

In December 1840, the numbers had so increased as to 
require the spacious building and grounds of the Portsmouth 
Academy, which were rented for 1841, for three hundred 
and fifty dollars. Ten scholars also, selected from the dif- 
ferent religious denominations, were educated without charge. 
The Trustees of the Academy at this time were Captain Ar- 
thur Emmerson, Dr. Joseph Schoolfield, Capt. Richard Car- 
ney, Dr. William Collins, Gen. John Hodges, Capt. John 
Thompson, John A. Chandler, Esq., Col. M. Cooke, Dr. 
Robert Butt, Dr. Arthur R. Smith and Holt Wilson, Esq. 
Ten of those eminent and excellent citizens are no more. 



•Early in the Spring of 1841, the following notice of the first parade of Ca- 
dets in this section of the country, appeared in the "Old Dominion." 

"Portsmouth Military Academy." "The Cadets at this highly popular In- 
stitution made their first public parade, since procuring their muskets, on 
Saturday last. They marched through the principal streets of the town, and 
won the most flattering encomiums for their soldier-like appearance and cor- 
rect discipline." 

The "Republican and Times" of July 28th, 1841, contained the following:: 
"In the last twelve months an Institution has sprung up among us, which/if 
rightly fostered, will confer the most extensive benefits on the people ef low- 
er Virginia and North Carolina— particularly on the rising generation. We 
allude to the Military Academy established here under the auspices of Capt. 
Partridge, who, though not directly connected with it at present, has obtained 
for it the services of three young gentlemeu of ability and education, amply 
qualified for the enterprise. The plan of instruction was novel and first not 
generally relied upon. The lapse of a few months, however, proved its efficacy. 
Few schools have been more successful." 

Such was the testimony of an aole writer, certainly not prejudiced in its 
favor. 

"The Cadets of the Military Academy, with their Instructors, all in uni- 
form," attended the ceremonies in commemoration of the decease of Presi- 
dent Harrison on the 14th of April, 1841. 

In 1841, the lollowing appeared in a Norfolk paper. "In the present relax- 
ed state of parental and domestic discipline and restraint in regard to the 
rising generation, if any argument were needed to prove the advantage of the 
introduction of a portion at least of Military subordination and system into 
our Schools, it may be found in the improvement and well regulated deport- 
ment of the Cadets of that interesting establishment, the "Military School at 
Portsmouth," which ^ve are pleased to find is daily gaining upon the favora- 
ble consideration of the community in which it is located. We much regret 
that the system has not been added to the valuable course of instruction 
adopted by the talented and able gentlemen to whom the destinies of ovr 
Academy have been committed." 



12 

Dr. Arthur It. Smith alone survives of the Trustees of Ports- 
mouth Academy in 1840. 

Of those who have been teachers in this Institution, I will 
mention the names of Johnson Shedd, who died in Ports- 
mouth, February 1842. 0. A. Buck, since deceased. 
William Lee, who died at the Sandwich Islands where he 
was Chief Justice for many years, and who in 1854, visited 
the United States as Minister Plenipotentiary of that Gov- 
ernment. Also, Hon. W. W. H. Davis, late Secretary of 
State in New Mexico. Major A. J. Dora, now Indian 
Agent, and Colonel Simeon Wheeler of Alabama. 

Since the present organization of the Collegiate Institute, 
the following gentlemen have been connected with it as in- 
structors — S. A. Whitney, F. S. Haywood, F. E. Martin- 
dale, James Giles, M. Pierre C-eay, E. W. Millard, P. P. 
Haywood, Wm. M. Pierce, H. E. Stanton, C. Lee, F. B. 
Marchy, J. H. Gayle, C. T. Phillips, C B. Denson and T. 
H. Williams. 

We have not the time to trace the history of the school 
in detail from its beginning to its suspension at the close of 
the year 1845, owing to the sale of the Academy building 
by act of legislature, nor from its re-opening in 1850, on the 
premises where it is now located, but we will attempt to 
sketch the career of some of its alumni. It is known that 
more than fifty of our students have engaged successfully in 
the business of teaching, thus giving us some claim to the name 
of Normal School, as applied to the training of instructors. 
About thirty have graduated in medicine, and among them 
are many who stand high in their profession. The bar is 
well represented by those who were once members of this 
Academy. This district has a senator, this county a dele- 
gate to the assembly, and this town a mayor, from the ranks 
of the Portsmouth Cadets. The major and adjutant, as 
well as a large proportion of company officer^ of the Ports- 
mouth Battalion, were once privates in our miniature bat- 
talion .TJThe army the navy, and the coast survey, have 



13 

efficient officers, who once marched shoulder to shoulder 
through the streets of Portsmouth, and heard the encourag- 
ing criticism of ' 'how well the little fellows drill," from the 
gazing crowd. 

Civil engineers are constructing rail-roads, and mechanical 
engineers are guiding our steamships, whose education has 
been obtained at the Collegiate Institute. Mechanics, mer- 
chants and farmers, whose number can be counted by 
hundreds have occupied our recitation seats and solved 
problems at our blackboards. 

Few, comparatively, have been prepared here for other 
institutions of learning, as the scholastic course of most— in 
fact all of whom we have just spoken — has been completed 
with us, but those who have entered the University of Vir- 
ginia, the Military Institute, and other colleges of this and 
neighboring states, have taken high and creditable positions 
in their classes. 

The tree planted in 1840 has produced abundant fruits — 
they are well known in this and other communities, and by 
them we are willing that our Institute shall be judged . 

Cornelia had her jewels, the illustrious Gracchi, and 
when the teacher sees his pupils engaged in honorable and 
useful pursuits, his heart leaps within him, and he rejoices 
at their success, for they are his jewels. When George III, 
astonished those who heard his first speech, by his clear and 
elegant delivery, has oratorical tutor Quin, exclaimed in 
ecstasy, "I taught that boy." The monument of Sir Chris- 
topher Wren, is the noble St. Paul's of which he was the 
architect, but more lasting than of brass or marble is theirs, 

"Who write 
Upon a people's living throbbing heart." 

For one, I confess the "fond desire" of living in the 
memory of my pupils, and the lofty ambition that in the 
midst of a free, industrious aud virtuous people, it may be 
said of me "si moliumentum requiris, circumspice." 

My Beloved Scholars — 

We have entered on the last hour of another scholastic 



14 

year of the Collegiate Institute, and you are assembled to 
hear a parting word from him to whom, though the partiality 
of your parents or guardians your mental, and to a great 
extent your moral and physical training, has been entrusted. 
That harp has been struck, 

"Whose tones — whose living tones, 
Are left forever in the strings." 

Vibrations have been impressed on 

"That wave, that circling ever, only breaks 
In all its grandeur on the eternal shore." 

Many of your number will now leave the quiet of the 
school, for the busy scenes of active life, and your parts in 
the great drama will soon be called, on that stage where 
"men and women are merely players." 

Have you "while life as opening buds is sweet," remem- 
bered like good father William, that "youth would not last," 
and made preparation to "act well your part?" Can you 
review your brief career, and say as did a distinguished 
statesman, in reference to the revolutionary history of his 
State, "the past, at least, is secure ?" But "creta an carbone 
notandum" whether to be marked with chalk or charcoal, 
the past is past, the future is before you. 

Does every post of usefulness, honor and emolument, 
seem occupied ? Have you already sought for places and 
situations, and learned that there are no vacancies ? JVow, 
indeed, you most need that Roman virtue — perseverance, 
which "keeps honor bright." Remember that the occupant 
of the presidential chair for 1900 is now a boy, and that the 
destinies of our cherished country will ere then be in the 
hands of those who are now young men. 

Press on ! The way will open before you ! The sands of 
time are waiting the impression of your footsteps— fix high 
your aim in life — -seek to be good and useful if you would 
be truly great, and never forget the reply of the gallant 
Col. Miller, when asked if he could take a battery at Lundy's 
Lane, and silence its fearefully destructive fire — "I'll try." 



15 

Say this earnestly and honestly, and his success will be yours. 
I repeat to you the stirring lines, addressed by the gifted 
Miss Davidson to Capt. Partridge's soldier scholars, when 
they visited Plattsburg in 1824. 

"Pass on ! for the bright torch of glory is beaming ; 
Go wreathe round your brows the green laurels of fame, 
Around you a halo, is brilliantly streaming, 
And history lingers to write down each name. 
Yes ! ye are the pillars of liberty's throne : 
When around you the banner of glory shall wave, 
America proudly shall call you her own ; 
And freedom and honor shall pause o'er each grave." 
Although but one third of a century has passed, the 
"reverend chronicler" has recorded the names of many of 
that then youthful corps. 

It affords me a gratification that words cannot express, to 
know that your correct and gentlemanly deportment, and 
persevering industry in your studies, has given an earnest of 
a bright and glorious future. We only, can rightly know 
the happy and harmonious relations that have existed be- 
tween teacher and pupil, and I shall be rejoiced to think, 
that the schoolroom has been made as profitable to you, as it 
has been rendered pleasant by you. "Sweet will be the 
memory of the past," and like the music of Carril, ' 'pleasant 
as the shower which falls on the sunny field." But your 
paths will now diverge, far from these pleasant places — the 
centripetal attractions of scientific and literary culture, will 
no longer draw your willing footsteps hither. The counting 
room, the workshop, the farm, will call you abroad. The 
office of the advocate — the college of medicine — the camp 
of the civil engineer — the sometimes ' 'noisy mansion" of the 
school master — the halls of the university, will decimate our 
classes. 

Two years ago one of your number thus addressed you — 

'•Comrades in arms ! before the sun 
In setting grandeur leaves yon sky, 
And night the broad expanse hath won, 
With all her glittering worlds on high, 



16 

We part — the toils of school all o'er, 
To seek delight in wood and wave. 
Those past glad days may come no more— 
That past — our hearts may often crave. 
But some perchance may not again 
With pleasure tread the halls we prize, 
Where linked in one fraternal chain, 
We bound ourselves in friendship's ties. 
To such, farewell, and may the Power 
That dwells on high, protect each form, 
And so through life, each light-winged hour, 
May make you meet for calm or storm. 
For like your glittering bayonets' sheen, 
Gleams man's escutcheon, fair and pure, 
But that, unlike the steel, I ween, 
A breath may tarnish ever-more. 
Then watch with care — with anxious care — 
In eager strife, for smiles of fame, 
That virtue's modest crown you wear, 
Your country's good your noble aim." 

We part, and the laws of probabilities forbid the hope, 
even, that we shall ever meet again as now, we're met. — 
May Grod grant, that when life's feverish dream is o'er, we 
may all he found prepared for admission to the blissful man- 
sions of that "house not made with hands," and worthy 
disciples of the Great Teacher of righteousness. 

It was a pleasant thought for absent ones to gaze on the 
same star — to look at the same moon, and feel that though 
far apart, "the same heavens were indeed over their heads." 
Let us fix our eyes upon a common object of regard — let us 
direct our actions by the same golden rule — let us strive to 
imitate the same perfect character. What more worthy ob- 
ject of love and adoration can we find than the Creator and 
Upholder of the universe — what surer guide than the revela- 
tion of His will, and what more perfect pattern, than His 
sinless Son ! 

As we part, then, to ride the stormy sea of life, do let us 
fix the wandering eye on that star — that central sun of the 
moral universe — The Star of Bethlehem. 



